Samsung Gear VR to get a full consumer launch on 27 March in the US

As promised, Samsung has finally started to kick off the full consumer launch of its Gear VR.

Best Buy in the US will begin selling the Gear VR Innovator Edition for the first time on 27 March for $199. Innovator Edition demos have been available in about 100 Samsung "Experience Shops" at Best Buy locations for a month, but now you'll finally have the chance to buy one.

Samsung turned heads earlier this month when it unveiled two new flagships and an updated version of its Gear VR headset. The new Innovator Edition is compatible with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones, still powered by Oculus, and capable of delivering a fully-immersive virtual reality experience. The standout change is that it no longer just works with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Samsung's Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung with Facebook-owned Oculus VR. The original version, which uses the Galaxy Note 4 as a screen and processor, launched last autumn for developers. The newer version was first teased in early March, when John Carmack, Oculus' CTO, claimed Gear VR would soon get a retail launch with Samsung’s next hardware cycle.

That next hardware cycle was obviously the debut of the Galaxy S6 and S6, and so both Samsung and Oculus are finally getting ready to transition Gear VR from a hardware piece designed for developers or enthusiasts to a user-friendly product aimed at the general public.

You can check here to see if your local Best Buy currently has the headset in stock.